Proof rendition of American Silver Eagle goes on sale March 23

This post was updated on March 21 at 6:30 p.m. to correct the term “Enhanced Proof.” Although ASEs with the Enhanced finish are sometimes referred to as Proofs or Specimens, they were marketed by the Mint in the spring of 2013 as having an “Enhanced Uncirculated” finish.

(Washington)—The United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the 2017 American Eagle 1-ounce silver Proof coin (17EA) on March 23 at noon Eastern Time.

The obverse of the ASE features Adolph A. Weinman’s full-length figure of Liberty in full stride, enveloped in folds of the flag, with her right hand extended and branches of laurel and oak in her left. Its reverse features former Mint sculptor-engraver John Mercanti’s heraldic eagle bearing a shield, with an olive branch in its right claw and arrows in its left.

American Eagle 1-ounce silver Proofs are struck on .999 fine silver blanks and bear the W mintmark, indicating their production at the U.S. Mint at West Point. Each coin is encapsulated and packaged in a satin-lined, blue-velvet presentation case with a certificate of authenticity.

There is no household order limit for this product. Customer demand will determine the number of coins minted.

American Silver Eagle Finishes, Compared

Over the years, the Mint has issued ASE coins in an array of finishes. In addition to the basic bullion finish, there have been five numismatic treatments: Uncirculated; Proof (mirrored field, frosted devices); Reverse Proof (frosted field, mirrored devices); Burnished (frosted, but with a depth of reflective luster); and Enhanced Uncirculated (with three finishes, one mirrored and two in different degrees of frostiness; this one is sometimes incorrectly called “Enhanced Proof”). The photos at the top of the foregoing press release are official U.S. Mint photos of the 2017 ASE Proof coin—but because the fields reflect a white background, it’s impossible to detect any mirrored quality.

To supplement the press release, I went hunting for a photo that more clearly depicts the Proof quality of a silver Eagle. Doing so reminded me how incredibly difficult it is to capture these distinctions with a camera—which in turn made me think it would be helpful to have accurate images that can be referred to, as needed, for future posts. I sifted through scores of APMEX product pages to find them, and even there, it was often hard to see any difference between, say, bullion and Uncirculated. The results are arranged as a group below, and then added individually for closer study. It will be interesting to know how the finishes shown here compare with readers’ experiences.

Comments

@cagcrisp – I know you watch all of the sales numbers coming out from the US Mint. I did no see if you had posted the sales for the 17AQ 2017 ATB QTR SILVER PROOF SET. On 03/12/17 it was 53,599. Now on 03/19/17 it is 50,024. That means they either did not count their sales correctly or there was 3,535 in returns.

Can you say the big buyers returning one s that did not come up PR70 or PR69.
What are your thought on this.

I appreciate all that you put into publishing the facts on the US Ming Sales.

@Old Big Bird, Your scenario that it is returns/cancellations would be correct. It happens in a lot of offerings about a month after Launch. It may just be the way the Mint accounts for returns/cancellations is why we don’t always see it on the same number of weeks after Launch.

We had that 924 number of sales that appeared before they ever went on sale.
Then the Actual Launch week of +42,614
Then w/e 02/26/17 +4,402
w/e 03/05/17 +3,296
w/e 03/12/17 +2,323
w/e 03/19/17 (3,535)

As of this morning, there are 7,913 of the GEM Premium Uncirculated coins available.

Now, there’s plenty of folks out there in coinblogosphere that will disagree with me and say that a 50th Anniversary Silver Krugerrand with a stated mintage of 1,000,000 coins at a price point of $58+ is the next best thing to sliced bread and they’re sell the whole lot as they’re flying off the shelves…

Well, as I eluded to earlier.., these puppies ain’t going no where – ’cause this dog don’t hunt!

If MCM can’t sell 100 of the GEM Premium Uncirculated over the course of 5 days of a hot ’50 years in the making’ release.., sheeeee.., they ain’t unloaded graded 70’s and certainly NOT 69’s in droves…,

I couldn’t even get the South African mint to respond to my electronic order requesting for a quote on some..,

Outside of the US coin collecting market, how does one unload 1,000,000 Silver BU coins at a price point of $58+…, that is the question.

Santa Claus…? Or those that bought in early eventually getting screwed?

I’m watching this release closely as it epitomizes GREED and it’s becoming entertaining to following,

At some point, someone in a leadership sales position is going to have to make a very, very tough call.., I anxiously await… 🙂

@earthling — That was my bad. I typed “unavailable” in the table, but typed “sold out” in the text. I’ve now corrected it. Many Coin Update readers won’t be interested in the difference, but the distinction is important to some (esp. to Mint News Bloggers), so thanks for the catch. I should set up a hockey-style scoreboard and award points and assists for catching errors. End-of-year winner gets a shiny Morgan dollar. 😉

Get some feed back.
I just purchased a Tanita 1479J2 Precision Mini Scale, likes/dislikes ? The mini scale I had would not weight out one hundredths and to weight a copper vs zink penny this is a need. Just having second thoughts, should of asked sooner than later.

As we said on the farm “close the barn door after the cows got out” . It was not bad when the cows got out, my lead cows were bucket calves I had raised and just had to hollower and bang a empty plastic bucket on the concrete pad at the grain bin feeder and fill it with corn. Quickest way to ones heart is their belly.

KCSO, I agree with your opinion on the silver Krugerrand. Usually I like to buy my coins as close to release date as possible but not this time. I caled MCM a few weeks back when I received an “Exclusive Mailer” promoting “First Day of Issue”. I asked about buying a roll and was told they don’t have them available yet and to wait a couple of weeks (can’t saturate the market too soon I guess).

Anyways, a few years ago Pandas had a mintage on 1 million and the premium was around $5-$6 a coin if you bought just one, that’s what the silver Krugerrand’s should be priced at in my opinion to sell a million. I’d would buy a roll with a $4-$5 premium. With current premium, I might buy 1 in a few years after they drop to near bullion.

It looks like you have already bought your scale, and I think you went for a good one. The only thing I didn’t like about it was what appeared to be the lack of a cover. If I were looking for a Tanita scale, I would probably choose this one just because it has the cover.

April Comex gold futures last traded at $1,245.70 an ounce, down 0.32% on the day; however, the metal is up more than 1% since the start of the week.

In a recent interview with Kitco News, Maxwell Gold, director of investment strategy at ETF Securities, said that the U.S. central bank recent action confirms that real rates will remain low and gold will continue to attract investors looking to diversify their portfolio.

Gold noted that last in the first half of last year was driven mostly because of strong speculative interest in the marketplace; however, that sentiment proved to be fleeting. Looking at the rally since the start of the year, Gold said that he sees more long-term interest in precious metals.

“Overall we see broad-based support for all precious metals and I think it is more than just a speculative position,” he said. “We have seen a stabilization of investor interest. A lot of the speculative money has been washed out of the market.”

Although equities remain near record highs, cracks are starting to appear in the marketplace as momentum weakens. Tuesday, the Down Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index saw their first 1% drop in five months.

“There is a need among investors to diversify, especially where we are with other asset class options,” he said.

Gold noted that the equity market has not seen a bear-market correction in more than eight years and there is an increasing probability that a correction is quickly approaching. He explained a lot of the sentiment of strong economic growth grew after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election is starting to fade as investor questions whether or not he will be able to deliver his lofty promises.

“I think the markets are underpricing the risks of delays in tax reform, deregulation and fiscal spending,” he said. “I think investors are starting to look to hedge against these risks.”

Gold said that another factor he think’s will be attractive for investors is gold’s recently low volatility. The Gold Volatility Index last week hit historic 20-year lows and while volatility has pushed higher is still under historical averages. Thursday, the Gold VIX ($GCV) was trading around 12.4, compared to the historic average around 18.

“I think gold’s current low volatility makes it an attractive asset for investors looking for an alternative risk hedge,” he said. “You don’t want to be in the market when volatility is high.”

By Neils Christensen
For Kitco News

Contact nchristensen@kitco.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure

Earthling, I didn’t buy any. I used to buy them every year years ago. Last year I bought some due to them being a one year type with the edge lettering but the quality of the batch I got was the worst I’ve ever seen.

I wish they would do a special 225th anniversary ASE set with an enhanced uncirculated coin. I think the 2013-W enhanced uncirculated is the most beautiful ASE

@ Phil – you ask some good questions, & I’ve often wondered the same as there’s a trend over the past few years on these new releases.

I think there just a very minute group, and I’m meaning like less than 12 people, that will buy on eBay and incur a hefty premium prior to a release to avoid having a credit card on file with the U.S. Government.

Could be due to privacy concerns of the ultra wealthy or the coins could find their way into the drug game.

Whatever the reason, the buyers probably don’t view $2,000 the same way you or I would…

Why? Who knows, other than the mint is dreadfully slow to react to anything.

If the ’17 HR has a low HHL, like of 1 or 2, expect the HHL to be around for a while.., & thus kill off any momentum it might have gained.

After 12 January, or I should say, Lew’s & Jeppson’s departure, the mint appears to have lost all enthusiasm for the HR, it simply isn’t shown anywhere, not even the 225th Anniversary link works.., oh well, it may shape up to be a relatively low mintage wonder

In comparison you can buy 1 oz 2017 Silver Koalas for only $4 over spot and they only have a mintage of 300k vs 1 million for the Krugerrand. I guess labor cost in S.A. are through the roof and that’s why silver cost so much over there (or just greed on both sides of the Atlantic).

Buying bullion Coins might be the latest cultural fashion or fad to go mainstream. First you had preppers, stackers and whatnot buying in anticipation of a Dollar collapse. Now maybe there are fad followers that just want to follow the latest trend? Maybe they want to buy PM’s with no regard to value? That would explain the nutso pricing of the Ag k-rands. Marketing 101 says price it hi and there is a perception of exclusivity. Price it low and the perception is of low quality junk.

I’m reminded of the PT Cruiser of over a decade ago. Here was an economy car in short supply. Soon everyone wanted one so bad Dealers were selling at $3,000 over MSRP List. This was a cheap ECONOMY Car. It got turned into a HOT FAD.

“Stay tuned: we’ll be updating our Page Visitor Information and Policies effective April 3 following a review of our current terms begun this past August. You can find the updated Page Visitor Information and Policies in the “About” section on April 3.”

I received my proof Queen’s Beast Lion… wow… really well done! Packaging and enclosed brief on the artist and the history of the Beasts was excellent. Over priced but … sometimes you have to pay to play.

I was thinking the other day about how overpriced the Krugerrands were at $59 a pop. Then I saw the announcement of the ASE proof version at $54 a pop. One I won’t buy because it’s overpriced, yet I will probably buy the other one … out of habit. Illogical, yes.

Earthling,
I buy mostly US Mint coins but I have a 1964 Peace Dollar and 2 1964 Morgan Dollars from Moonlight that I really like. I also last year bought 5 of the French Statue of Liberty 130th Anniversary silver medals from MCM. It was an impulse buy that I justified because I had an offer for 10% eBay Bucks. I sent them to NGC and got 4 MS70’s and 1 69.

I’m in a situation right now where I need to get some money together and I sent some extra coins to Great Collections to sell for me. Among them were some certified 2015 National Parks commems. The MS70 golds made their “Hot List”. I’ll let you all know how they do. The modern coin market kind of sucks right now and I would be OK with just getting my money back on the coins I sent to GC but a little more is always better.

If the coin market does not improve sometime before I die I hope PM’s go up again like they did in 2011. I will sell a sh*t load of coins then. History doesn’t always repeat itself but sometimes it rhymes. At this point I’m not in a hurry.

1. The 96 Jackie will SO before the 9 Lady Bird will SO
2. In 50 years , even with Higher Mintage, Jackie will be worth More than ANY of the other FS coins
3. Why? Because in 50 years there will be MANY MANY modern Gold coins with MUCH lower Mintage than Roosevelt …
4…And by then Everyone will know that Low Mintage without Demand means Nothing on the Secondary market…

OT: @KML in Ky: I recently disposed of my US Mint Modern Gold Commerative graded collection, offering the entire collection as one lot. I will not sell coins on eBay, so I sent lists to many of the big dealers who advertise in Coin World, and used the Silvertowne market indicators to evaluate the offers I received. Sad is the best adjective I can use about the current market for the commerative market. Sellers like MCM declined to make offers, others wanted to see the coins before making offers, even though I provided NGC certification numbers. The only reason I did ok on cost recovery is that I had bought all back dates in 06 and 07, so the spot value had appreciated. sufficiently. I actually got a little over spot for the common dates, and felt blessed. Harry

Hey David, I have a good friend that tells me all the time that there are way too many stupid people in this world. After reading your post I had to see for myself what people are paying for this chunk of silver. Well, maybe it’s time I flip a few Krugerrands before all the stupid people run out of money.

@KCSO: I had a complete set in NGC 70 and a few duplicates in 70 and about a dozen 69 graded duplicates. I offered them as one lot. The key coins brought 2x spot, the common $10 coins brought 1.5x spot in 70, and the common $5s brought $20 over spot. A few like the Robinsons and the Baseball coins did quite well, I was disappointed in some of the bigger sellers offering spot minus $20 for most of the lot. I consider myself blessed to sell the coins. I guess I will sit on the OGP commeratives for a while as well as the P 5oz ATBs and Platinum ASEs until the spot market moves up some.m

Just received my 5 American Eagle Proofs. And for the first time I had damaged lenses on two out of the five.
On the obverse side there is a chip in the lower edge. As I said I have not seen this before on the Eagle’s.
It is a strange place to have damage. I know some people who keep boxes unopened. Well 2 out of 5 are not good odds in my view. I always open and inspect my items.

It’s too bad you can’t just ask for new capsules. I called the USM just before this post and asked about your problem, and yes, you will have to send the entire order back.

I think what happens to the capsules is that they are misaligned for a variety of reasons when the automatic press closes them tight. That would be the reason why you have two which are broken. You probably will not have the same issue again.

By the way, I’m beginning to wonder when the Mint is going to pull Shawnee.

“A massive gold coin worth millions of dollars vanished from a museum in the middle of the night, police in Germany announced Monday, saying a team of thieves managed to steal the 221-pound currency before cops could arrive.”

@ Dustyroads – thanks for your input. I already have my return label and going off to the UPS store.
It is just a shame that the USM can pay for return shipping and then free replacement shipping.
That is just a waste of money and of course my time. I have been ordering AES for years and never had this
problem before.

I collect coins for several years and professional coins are the best in my opinion because proof coins with a special mirror-like finish.
I was looking for where to buy a coin on pre-order, found a good option.